Legacy of Charlie D. & Rosa Defa Fabrizio 

About Hanna, Utah  Homesteading in the Uintah Basin Late 1800's   Putting Down Roots 1925 to 1952

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Chapter 3   Homesteading in the Uintah Basin Late 1800's

IT ISN’T THE TOWN, IT’S YOU

If you want to live in the kind of a town that’s the kind of a town you like,
You needn’t slip your clothes in a grip and start on a long, long hike.
You’ll find elsewhere what you left behind, for there’s nothing that’s really new.
It’s a knock at yourself when you knock your town; it isn’t your town– it’s you.
Real towns are not made by men afraid lest somebody else gets ahead.
When everybody works and nobody shirks you can raise a town from the dead.
And if while you make your stake your neighbor can make one, too,
Your town will be what you want to see, it isn’t your town– it’s you.

–R. W. Glover

  The Uintah Basin is located in the northeastern part of Utah and received its name from the Ute Indian tribe who lived there. Located in the western part of the Basin is Duchesne County. On the far western side of the county is a small town known as Tabiona. Further west on the edge of the Basin is an even smaller town known as Hanna. Highway 40 to 208 or Highway 35 (Wolf Creek Pass) are the two routes leading to Hanna. Click map for full image

Many small Utah towns have only one main road running through its center. Hanna’s main street extends southeast and northwest for six miles. The Duchesne River snakes its way along the south side of the road while Tabby Mountain poses as a back drop behind the river. Dirt roads shoot off from the main roadway sporadically in all directions, leading to farm houses, manicured fields, fenced corrals, large barns, and town businesses. To the north are the rolling hills of multi-colored clay known as the Clay Hills. On the mountain tops are some ruins of an old Ute Indian cemetery. The locals called that particular mountain, the Indian Graves.

What was this valley like in the late 1800's? It was a little less manicured and definitely more wild and rugged. There were the cedars, pines, and quaking aspen trees with a wide variety of wild flowers like (Sego Lilies, Columbines, Lady Slippers, Indian Paint Brush, and cactus.) Many animals frequented the mountains and valleys. Most common were deer, elk, rabbits, squirrels, chipmunks and a variety of birds. There were other animals like bears, bobcats, lions and coyotes, but they were rarely seen. In those early days, there were thousands of wild horses, bands of them, running freely.

In those early days, the Ute Indian tribe owned and lived on the land in Tabiona, Hanna and most of the Uintah Basin. In fact, Tabiona received its name from Chief Tabby, a peace-loving man who helped bridge the gap between the Native Americans and the early white settlers of the Basin.

Brigham Young, President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and Chief Tabby were friends. "During May, 1883, many Mormon elders came to the Uintah Basin to spread their doctrine to the Ute Indian tribe. Among those who taught this gospel were Chief Tabby and some of the other chiefs of the Ute tribe. These Indians were religious members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints." Chief Tabby died November 22, 1903 at the age of 104, and is buried at the White Rocks Indian Agency.

Around the turn of the century in Washington D. C., laws were being formulated and proclamations were being written concerning Indian Affairs and the issue of land in the Uintah Basin. The President of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt, proclaimed, "Whereas it was provided by the Act of Congress, approved May 27, A. D., 1902 (32 States., 263), among other things, that on October first, 1903, the unallotted lands in the Uintah Indian Reservation, in the State of Utah, ‘shall be restored to the public domain: Provided, That persons entering any of said lands under the homestead laws shall pay therefor at the rate of one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre.’"

The applicants for homesteading had to register and were given a certificate. Numbers were assigned to the applicants for their time to appear at a drawing that entitled them to land. If they failed to appear on their date assigned or didn’t have their proper documentation, they forfeited their right to homestead.

Soon those first settlers took up residence in the northwestern end of the Basin. Homesteading continued and a short time later when a post office was built, the small community to the northwest of Tabiona was named Hanna, after the first postmaster, William P. Hanna. In 1908, Alford Duke taught in the first school, which was located just below Farm Creek.

The majority of the people living in the area at the time, from the Stockmore Ranger Station on the northwest to the community of Tabiona on the southeast, were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Those early settlers belonged to the Theodore 

Ward, which was then a part of Wasatch County, Utah. "In the fall of 1909 a meeting house, a log building, was erected on the southeast corner of Arthur W. Maxwell’s land, about a mile north of the present townsite [Tabiona]."

Catholicism had been introduced to the Uintah Basin by Father Dominquez and Father Escalante in September, 1776. Beginning 1885 priests were commissioned to travel to the Basin where they administered to their members. Finally in 1940, a rectory, Saint Helen, was dedicated in Roosevelt. The Catholics from Hanna traveled to Roosevelt for their worship services. There may have been a few others of different faiths, but they were minor factions of the community.

One common interest of these early pioneers was to own land. The desire was so strong that many came with very little food, a few seeds, scarce clothing and small pieces of furniture in covered wagons, hand carts, buggies or on horse back. These men and women were unified in their homesteading efforts. They helped one another by building cabins, clearing land, and planting crops. They went to the land with faith not knowing that their small contribution of a few seeds would put roots in the ground and eventually build a community.

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Chapter 7    Putting Down Roots 1925 to 1952  (excerpts)

Hanna

 Rosie’s granddaughter, Annette described her feelings about this small Utah town. 

Small town, it is to the city folks, but it is on their list of favorite places to visit. For those of us who lived there, roots are deep. So deep, in fact, that holidays and seasons always bring generations of families together. It is quiet, peaceful, unchanging. There were and are very few businesses or signs of life; however, friends, neighbors and relatives know everyone’s comings and goings, as well as everybody’s business! They are a close knit community, supportive of one another. People are remembered, usually with a nickname. Hanna was home, it will always be home!

  Houses happen, homes are built. Charlie and Rosie were home builders, driven by their dreams. They entrenched their lives in progressive attitudes. They set goals, made plans, and followed through in spite of opposition or difficulty. This was characterized by their focused attention and effort to the crusade. They built their home, and in the process helped build a town!

  Charlie especially had foresight, determination, and resolve. He was a major force in building Hanna, Utah. 

Back row-Charlie, Delbert, Rosie. Front Row-Art, Tom, Neil. Click photo for full image.

Furthermore, when a need arose in the community he searched for a way to resolve it. As the years passed he learned about and built many businesses that family and neighbors either needed or wanted. His brother-in-law and friend, Lloyd (Snooks) Roberts paid him a compliment regarding his abilities and talents, "Charlie Fabrizio had the brains!" Clearing land and farming was not enough for him, he had a vision of this town. Time and time again he was referred to as "a man-made entrepreneur."

Power Plant

To improve their living conditions in the late 1920's, Frank, Joe and Charlie looked into the innovative idea of electricity. They got a little outside help and built a power plant that provided DC electricity to their homes. Tom tells about this plant:

The head of the power ditch was directed from the Duchesne River, about a half mile up stream, by the old swimming hole, and it ended by Grandma Defa's old house. From where the ditch was dug, down to the river, there was quite a drop off. They made a big cement head gate there at the end of the power ditch with a steel two or three foot diameter pipe going straight toward the river. The pipe had steel grates at the entrance to keep trash from going into it. Dad cleaned the trash from in front of the pipe about every other morning. Anyway, the gravity and force of the water going down hill from the head gate was very strong. They built a small building about ten feet by ten feet just above the river that housed the power plant. The plant itself consisted of a steel bowl with a propeller, like on a motor boat, inside the bowl with a rod coming out of the top. The water coming down the hill inside the pipe turned the propeller at a high rate of speed. The rod on top going into a generator at a high speed generated the electricity. When the water got low or the pipe entrance got plugged, the lights in our homes got dim, then Dad would have to go solve the problem.

Rhoades Canal

Water is a necessity. From the beginning of time, people have searched for, fought about, and killed over water rights. Farmers need water, and most people in Hanna were farmers. This canal was very important because it furnished water for irrigation in the town. It was established by the Rhoades family on the upper end of the ditch [about five to six miles northwest of where Charlie lived). It continued to the southeast as more and more farmers chose to hook up with it.

Although Charlie was limited regarding his formal education, he was far ahead of most in matters of common sense. Another strength of character was his ability to interact with people. Using these two attributes he made a difference when he connected on to the Rhoades Canal. He was the last farmer at the end of the ditch.

After Charlie had attended some of the canal business meetings he identified some of the problems and contributed solutions. Tom explains how his dad eventually was put in a position to resolve some of the water issues of the community:

Dad didn't have much to say in their annual ditch meetings because he was the last to hook on. So the families on the upper end made most of the decisions. But as the years passed, my dad and others on the lower end made suggestions and input that would improve the operations of the canal. One such suggestion was to make the ditch company a corporation and operate it as such. Those in charge at the time didn’t agree. Sparks flew and it almost turned into a fist fight. The officers in the company remained in office year after year.

However, one year after some careful planning before the meeting, and maybe even some "under the table" business Charlie Fabrizio was chosen president. And he did it! Papers were drawn up and it became a corporation, with officers, directors and a secretary. The annual meeting became a civil, responsible, productive meeting. Dad was president for several years after that. He was a natural in the business world.

In addition to his role as president of Rhoades Canal, he was also called as a member of the Utah Conservative Water Board in the Central Utah Project for many years until it was completed. Read more in the book . . .

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